


If It's Meant To Be (It'll Be)

by definitelynotafan



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Drabble, M/M, Surprisingly Little Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 12:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14308209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/definitelynotafan/pseuds/definitelynotafan
Summary: Niall after he hears about Zayn's comments about him.





	If It's Meant To Be (It'll Be)

**Author's Note:**

> I should be working on my 1dcollab fic ... but then ziall happened. Well ... 
> 
> Here is a short drabble I wrote to get it out of my system. Feel free to imagine what happens afterwards and it you want to tell me about it leave a comment. 
> 
> xx

Niall wakes up to his Twitter mentions having been blown up more than usual. He hasn't been out the night before and it has been a while since he had posed for a picture with fans, so for a while he hasn't got a clue what has gotten into the fans. Besides the usual "I love you"s and "follow me"s there seems to be a lot of screaming going on. He needs to scroll quite bit before it becomes clear to him that along side his twitter handle, Zayn's featured as well in most of them. It takes Niall even longer before he finally finds a link to the source of the virtual commotion.

From there on out, everything becomes pretty clear.

The call had been unexpected, to say the least. Sure, Niall and Zayn had texted every once in a while. They had congratulated each other on successful releases, birthdays and holidays. But it had felt more like polite conversation you would have with a distant acquaintance you meet while doing your shopping in Tesco on a Saturday. It's nowhere even close to where it used to be between them but there is nothing Niall can do about it. It is what it is, as Louis used to say all the time.

Then Niall had texted Zayn after the breakup with Gigi. He hadn't even been sure the number he had for Zayn was even still the right one. But it's not like he could DM him and tweeting had seemed too public and impersonal. It hadn't been a long text, just the usual platitudes of I'm sorry and I'm here for you if you wanna talk. There hadn't been a reply and Niall had accepted that and moved on.

His phone rang a couple of days later, in the middle of Niall watching a recoding of one of the Masters games he couldn't catch, a cold beer in his hand, an empty bottle already standing in front of him. He hadn't believed it really, had thought Zayn had meant to ring someone else. But, of course he had picked up. He had thought back to the last time he had heard Zayn's voice and the last time he had heard Zayn's voice directed at him. Or they last time they had seen each other. Late 2016, he thought. A while ago.

The call had lasted for almost an hour and it left Niall with a warmth in his stomach that he could not quite blame on the beer. Zayn's accent had been as think as ever, never tuned down to fit any type of image. He's just unapologetically himself; just Zayn. They hadn't spoken much about the breakup, Niall hadn't pushed and Zayn had only mentioned in passing that it just hadn't felt right anymore. In the end, it had been more comfort than love. After that they had mostly talked about music, staying away from anything too personal. That's also something that has changed. They used to talk about everything. Zayn had held him when the homesickness had become too much and had brought Niall to tears. Even though Niall is sure that everyone in the band would have understood him, it was still always Zayn's bed he had crawled into when the then loneliness and quite had gotten too much to bear.

Niall clicks on the link before he can think better of it and listens to the small audio clip. He shivers when hears his own name fall from Zayn's lips. It sounds different than when Zayn is addressing Niall and Niall tries to pinpoint exactly what it is. It's still sounds soft. Not as soft as when he used to whisper it back in the early days on the bus, when everyone was sleeping and it was just the two of them talking about how mad this all is. It sounds fond, but not as fond as it had sounded when he had congratulated Niall on his music during the call. Not even a little bit like the airy sounds Zayn had breathed out that one night. That one night shortly before he had left, somewhere in a hot and humid hotel room somewhere in Asia where two boys, just a bit pissed on cheap local beers, had kissed. Just this once, just to try it out. They had never talked about and sometimes Niall thinks it might have been just a dream. A lovely dream, brought on by the feeling of impending change in the air. But Niall has the picture he took that night on his phone. Definitely not a dream then.

Maybe it's because his brain is still a bit asleep, Niall opens iMessage and clicks on Zayn's name.

Niall: _You talked about me ._

He isn't sure what he's doing, what he's trying to accomplish, but the text is delivered and there is no turning back. He groans and locks his phone, might as well get up and start his day. He sings a bit under the shower as he soaps up his body, trying to stay clear of his dick. Of course he is hard, it's morning but Niall's mind is still too occupied with Zayn and it would be weird. Later maybe. Niall is well into making breakfast when his phone vibrates in his pocket.

Zayn: _yeah?_

Niall is surprised Zayn is already up. The only reason he is up is because he's flying back to England the next day and he still has to pack and get some emails written and sent. Zayn usually schedules promo for the afternoon unless he absolutely can help it. Nightowls, the both of them. For a moment Niall debates whether he should answer the text. He shouldn't have said anything in the first place. At the same time there is a desperate need in him to cling to every small bit of conversion he and Zayn have. He'd never not answer. Even if he risks coming off as a bit of a twat.

Niall: _I liked it .._

Three dots appear in about a second and Niall's heart starts beating faster.

Zayn: _us talking? or me talking about u?_

A fair question. Talking to Zayn always makes you feel special. Incredulous to the fact that he is speaking to _you_. There is an air of unattainability to Zayn that sometimes stays with you even after you have gotten up close and personal with him.

Niall: _Dunno .. both .._

Zayn: _we can talk more?_

Niall: _Can we really ?_

Zayn: _i dont know.._

Niall is about to reply when second message comes in.

Zayn: _i like it too when we talk._

Zayn: _a lot._

Niall almost lets the phone slip from his sweaty palms. Something about this exchange feels dangerous. Dangerously close to something Niall hasn't wanted to acknowledge before. His heartbeat is picking up some more and he sits down when he starts to feel dizzy.

Niall: _Then what's stopping us ?_

Zayn: _don't know so much has happened_

Zayn: _we never talked about any of it_

Zayn: _reckon that might get in the way._

Breathe, Niall reminds himself.

Niall: _Someone's talking like a proper grow-up !_

Joking makes everything easier. You can start to panic if you're laughing.

Zayn: _might have gotten a therapist … been working through some stuff._

Niall: _I heard about that on the radio . I'm happy for you !_

The coffee has gone cold by now but Niall drinks it anyway. He doesn't really need it to wake up anymore, the conversation has him basically jumping up and down in his hotel suite.

Zayn: _thanks!! u in LA soon?_

Zayn: _be good to do this in person_

Zayn: _if youre serious about talking…_

Niall: _No , back to London tomorrow, then back on tour . Not before June ._

Niall goes through his tour schedule in his head, trying to find some time maybe to fly to LA, knowing that there won't be another break until he starts the American leg of his world tour. For the first time since starting it he wishes that he had thought of more breaks. Until now, he had missed being on tour.

Zayn: _June's not that far away_

Niall: _I get to look forward to awkward conversation then ._

Zayn: _mate, we shared a tour bus for 5 years cant be more awkward than that._

Zayn: _pretty sure I've heard u wank_

Niall flushes at the thought of that. There had been a "no wanking on the bus" rule put in place in the early days already but the unspoken rule had been more like "no wanking on the bus until you think everyone is asleep" and sometimes people who are awake can be really damn quiet.

Niall: _you didn't stick to the no wanking rule either . just saying_

Zayn: _Then talking about feelings should be easy._

Niall: _I guess waiting a few more weeks won't hurt. We've made it this far._

Zayn: _stay in touch? x_

The kiss makes Niall flush almost more than the wanking comment. He tries not to think too much into it.

Niall: _always . xx_

In the end, nothing gets resolved that day. But Niall does feel a step closer to something. And who knows what will happen when they do meet up in June. His stomach does a flippy thing at the thought of it. He goes about making another coffee, singing Bebe Rexha's Meant to Be softly to himself. If he's smiling while doing it, no one has to know.


End file.
